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/ˈɔltərnət/ /ˈɔltərnˌeɪt/ Listen

adjective

Alternate adj.

Being or succeeding by turns; one following the other in succession of time or place; by turns first one and then the other; hence, reciprocal. "And bid alternate passions fall and rise."

Designating the members in a series, which regularly intervene between the members of another series, as the odd or even numbers of the numerals; every other; every second; as, the alternate members 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.; read every alternate line.

(Bot.) Distributed, as leaves, singly at different heights of the stem, and at equal intervals as respects angular divergence.

Alternate alligation. See Alligation.

Alternate angles (Geom.), the internal and angles made by two lines with a third, on opposite sides of it. It the parallels AB, CD, are cut by the line EF, the angles AGH, GHD, as also the angles BGH and GHC, are called alternate angles.

Alternate generation. (Biol.) See under Generation.

verb

Alternate v. t. (past & past part. alternated; pres. part. alternating) To perform by turns, or in succession; to cause to succeed by turns; to interchange regularly. "The most high God, in all things appertaining unto this life, for sundry wise ends alternates the disposition of good and evil."

Alternate v. i.

To happen, succeed, or act by turns; to follow reciprocally in place or time; followed by with; as, the flood and ebb tides alternate with each other. "Rage, shame, and grief alternate in his breast." "Different species alternating with each other."

To vary by turns; as, the land alternates between rocky hills and sandy plains.

noun

Alternate n.

That which alternates with something else; vicissitude. (R.) "Grateful alternates of substantial."

A substitute; one designated to take the place of another, if necessary, in performing some duty.

(Math.) A proportion derived from another proportion by interchanging the means.

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Etymology of 'Alternate'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Alternate" Quotes from Famous Books

... normal octopus and produce a giant. I fancy that the immediate parent of the thing before us was of normal size, and so, probably, are its brothers and sisters. The phenomenon of giantism of this nature occurs in alternate generations and then only in rare instances. Its grandparent may not be far away, however. I wish it was safe to use a ...

— Astounding Stories of Super-Science, December 1930 • Various

... with his piece, which appears to me to have very fine lines and passages in it, but which, altogether, interested me but little. I confess, indeed, the violence of ses gestes, and the alternate howling and thundering of his voice in declaiming, fatigued me excessively. If our Fanny had been present, I am afraid I should many times have been affected as one does not expect to be at a tragedy. We sat down at seven to dinner, and had half finished before M. d'Arblay appeared, though ...

— The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay Volume 3 • Madame D'Arblay

... information is presented in Appendix H: Cross-Reference List of Geographic Names which indicates where various geographic names—including alternate names, former names, political or geographical portions of larger entities, and the location of all US Foreign Service posts—can be found in The World Factbook. Spellings are normally, but not always, those approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN). Alternate ...

— The 1999 CIA Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... in showing alternate views of the fire itself and the preparations at the slab hut to flee from it, Mr. Pertell, at times, worked an extra camera himself. Thus the time was shortened, for the fire was something that could not be held back, as could ...

— The Moving Picture Girls at Rocky Ranch - Or, Great Days Among the Cowboys • Laura Lee Hope

... But I believe I felt imperatively the necessity of moderating my own strong nervous emotion and excitement by the fulfillment of my accustomed duties and pursuits, and above all by withdrawing my mind into higher and serener regions of thought, as a respite and relief from the pressure of my alternate apprehensions of failure and hopes of success. I do not mean that it was at all a matter of deliberate calculation or reflection, but rather an instinct of self-preservation, which actuated me: a powerful instinct which has struggled and partially prevailed throughout my whole life ...

— Records of a Girlhood • Frances Anne Kemble

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